Coal-hod lifter and box or receiver for same



Patentsd Aug. 23, |898.4

`A. R. WILSON. COAL HOD LIFTER AND BOX 0R RECEIVERFUR SAME.

(No Mudel.)

ANNA R. WILSON OF BRIDGETON, NEV JERSEY.

COAL-HOD LIFTER AND BOX OR RECEIVER FOR SAME.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 609,528,4d`ated August 23h, 1898.

I Application iiledduly 12, 1897. Serial No. 644,326.' (ITo'model.)

To all whom it may aon/cern:

Beit known that I, ANNA R. WILSON, of

Bridgeton, in the county of Cumberland and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Coal-Hod Lifters and Boxes or Receivers for the Same; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description oi' the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to means for automatically raising or readily lifting a coal souttle, bucket, or hod from a box in which it may be placed beside the grate or stove, thus relieving young or delicate persons from the strain of lifting such heavy loads; also to means for holding the hod down in the box.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents a vertical section, in the line o a: of Fig. 2, of a box or case for receiving and holding the coal-hod and of its interior devices for holding the hod down in the same and also for releasing it that it may rise vwith its contained coal and be turned to discharge what is needed for the iire; Fig. 2, a plan of the box; Fig. 3, a section similar to Fig. 1, but with the hod-lifter and the springs pressed down as if by the weight of y a hod of coal and automatically latched down in this position; and Fig. 4, a vertical section in the line y y of Fig. 2.

A represents a wooden or otherbox orframe. At two opposite sides within this box or frame may be placed from its top to bottom receptacles B B, which may be of any desired form, to receive spiral springs C C', which are made broader or with larger spirals at their base and which gradually diminish toward theirvupper ends, as shown. These springs when not compressed reach from the inside of the bottom or base of the box up to or nearly to its top.

The receptacles B B' may be square or round tubes or merely uprights properly supported to be firm, and each has a vertical open slit or slot b2, extending as far as the spring can move when compressed or when expanded to its full limit.` These slits are for the purpose of admitting the ends of a lift-er D, upon which the hod with its coalis placed. This lifter has two V-shaped or other curved ears d d near its top, designedto receive the ears or other usual projections at the side of a hod.

The lifter Dis preferably made of sheet metal, and its upper ends are narrowed and are secured to the top part of the springs by any suitable bending of these ends upon or in the springs. At the under side of this lifter is an eye cl2 or a hook adapted to be automatically caught and held by the hooked end e' of a spring-actuated lever-latch E, this hooked end being inclined or rounded off toward its point to insure the engagement of the eye upon it. The lifter D, suspended as it is from the tops of the springs, can also sway a little,`if need be-,'so that its eye d2 shall not fail to ride over the top of the hook and effect an engagement with it. This lockinglatch has a spring e2, which normally presses upward the outer or exposed end of lever E, 4which end projects through the box, so that by the downward pressure of a persons foot the hook e' may be raised and instantly released from the eye d2 to set free the lifterD in order' that thecoiledsprings C C shall force upward the lifter vand the hod resting upon it. The ears d are firmly riveted on pins d3, and these pins are held, as shown, in holes in the lifter D, but not so as to be tight therein. Thus the ears are free to swing a limited distance to assist in turning over a hod While still supported by the lifter sufticiently to empty coal from the hod into a grate, stove, (itc.

It is advisable to have stops d4 on the lifter to avoid the swinging of the ears d too far around. Y

From the above it will be seen that upon placing a hod with its coal therein on the lifter D the weight, aided by a little downward pressure, if needed, will c arryD down against the upward force of the springs C C and that when the eye 032 has gone down far enough the lifter is latched to and kept down by lever E. The hod is then hiddenfwithin the box, provided the top ofthe boxV be high enough, and the box may externally be made as ornamental as desired, suitable for parlors or anyother rooms. l i

-The box, while it may be cheaply made of IOO Wood, may also be of sheet or other metal, and it may be of any shape in cross-section, such as square, round, oval, Octagon, 85e.

I claiml.. A coal-hod box and lifter, having in combination, a box or case, a spring-supported lifter Within the same adapted to hold a hod, and a spring-actuated foot-lever at the base of the box, adapted automatically to engage With such lifter when the latter is lowered sufficiently, and thus to hold down the lifter, all substantially as setforth.

2. In combination With a box or case fora coal-bod, the lifter, springs for supporting and lifting the same, the receptacles for such springs having vertical slits therein to allow the lifter to be lowered and raised, an eye on ANNA R. VILSON.

Witnesses:

LORENZO B. ORB, CHARLES HETZELL. 

